"I didn't expect there'd be anything that could confuse you."
Horikita pinched Amane's cheek, a little surprised.
"I'm not a god, how could I be omniscient and omnipotent? But this matter is too strange; I have no leads on it at all right now."
Amane sighed, looking troubled.
"I'm so tired, I don't want to deal with it anymore. I'll leave this matter to you, Suzune."
Amane had a sudden idea and said to Horikita with a smile.
"Don't joke like that! I asked you for help precisely because I had no ideas. If you dump it back on me now, things will just stagnate."
Horikita was quite helpless at Amane's sudden act of giving up.
"But I don't have any solutions either. Besides, I've already helped Airi once. Although I think this incident might be related to Ryuuen, I don't believe for a second that Airi isn't involved.
In such a situation, to break the deadlock, we can only start by working on Airi's mindset... Just thinking about it is troublesome."
Amane scratched her hair in frustration.
Horikita, however, smiled.
"This is the charm of this school; unexpected situations can arise at any time. And as the bottom-ranked class of the first-years, we can only push forward with grit."
Hearing Horikita say this, Amane pouted.
"But I just want to enjoy my school life comfortably. In a person's life, countless choices are made, and countless difficulties are faced, resulting in either overcoming them or being defeated by them.
These can be experienced anywhere, anytime, but school life only happens once. Suzune, you should learn to enjoy it."
Amane rolled over, lying flat on Horikita's lap.
She slowly reached out her hand.
Seemingly wanting to grasp something.
Rays of sunlight, filtering through the tree branches, quickly slipped through Amane's fingertips. In the end, Amane didn't catch anything, but her face was full of smiles.
"You don't necessarily have to get something to feel satisfied. Sometimes, meaningless actions can also bring joy."
As soon as Amane finished speaking, Horikita gently poked her nose.
"That's because you're too easily satisfied. Ever since I was little, I've been chasing my brother's footsteps. Every time I felt like I was just one step away from him, that man would run desperately, leaving his sister mercilessly behind.
It took so much effort... and now I've finally reached the same track as him. Although the starting points are different, I know we're now at the final stage. Instead of thinking about giving up now, it's better to run with all your might."
Horikita Suzune's voice paused.
"I also want my brother and you, Amane, to see me chasing with all my strength."
"Go for it, earn more private points, that's how you'll be able to support me."
"You eat too much. Get up, my leg feels a bit numb."
Horikita Suzune rolled her eyes at Amane and started to push her off.
"Eh, I only lay down for a little while."
"But I'm the one who's suffering. If you're not happy, go find someone else willing to give you a lap pillow."
Horikita flicked Amane's head, just about to leave.
But a familiar voice came from behind her.
"Yo, isn't that Amane? My lap happens to be missing someone. Want to come?"
Kiryuin was sitting on the bench with her legs crossed.
Her gaze passed through Horikita to Amane, who was covering her forehead.
"Tch, I'm not interested."
Amane was just about to turn and follow Horikita away.
Then she saw Kiryuin, that old trickster... I mean, that bad woman, actually taking off her shoes and pulling black over-the-knee socks from her pocket to put on.
Whether intentional or not.
When Kiryuin's fingers traced her legs, it always seemed to deliberately accentuate the perfect lines of her legs.
Kiryuin definitely surpassed Horikita in leg flexibility and elasticity.
After all, she had trained her leg flexibility and strength since childhood, which was a completely different level from Horikita Suzune, who only learned some basic self-defense techniques for self-protection and to emulate Horikita Manabu.
Gulp.
Seeing her Amane staring at the other's legs with a perverted look.
Horikita had a look of disappointment.
"Cough."
"Cough cough."
"Cough cough cough."
"Suzune, do you have pollen allergies? You weren't coughing just now."
Looking at Amane's worried expression.
Horikita was both relieved and angry.
Relieved that Amane finally looked away from the other person's legs, for her sake.
Angry that she only reacted after her third cough!!
She was clearly almost completely captivated.
"How were your whispers? Senpai will make you very comfortable, you know."
Seeing that Amane's will was still quite firm.
Kiryuin smiled, emphasizing the word "senpai."
Actually, the term "senpai" is just a normal honorific to others.
It doesn't have any substantial meaning.
But to Amane... well, let's see what kind of impression Amane has of "senpai" in her mind.
Hmm, it seems there isn't a single proper image.
"Oh? Isn't that Horikita-san and Miyako-san?"
A tall woman happened to walk over and greeted Horikita and Amane as soon as she saw them, followed by a boy and a girl, both second-years in uniform.
"You are... a C cup, I think. You must be President Fujiwara, right?"
Amane recognized the other person at a glance.
Even Fujiwara was startled.
After all, they had only met once. The reason she recognized Amane was because Amane's expressiveness was too exaggerated, a presence that no one has surpassed even now.
Especially her terrifying arm strength left Fujiwara in awe.
"I'm glad you still remember me. Since you do, why don't you come to the Kyudo Club when you're free? An-ta and Kyouko miss you too, right?"
Fujiwara looked back at the two who were following her like attendants.
An-ta and Kyouko quickly nodded.
Hearing "Kyudo Club" brought back some vague memories for Horikita.
She didn't expect Amane to have such a good memory, remembering people she had only met once.
"I'm a first-year student, and I've been quite busy lately, so I haven't found the time to visit. Next time I'm free, I'll definitely visit the Kyudo Club."
Visit.
If someone else had casually said such an indifferent remark.
Fujiwara would have immediately gotten angry without hesitation.
Because it was a clear act of disrespect towards the Kyudo Club.
But when Amane said it, Fujiwara only felt slightly awkward.
After all, their skill in kyudo was indeed far inferior to Amane's.
"Then I'll look forward to you coming to visit me."
As a third-year, Fujiwara gave off a very approachable feeling, like a warm older sister.
"By the way, President Fujiwara, where are you planning to go with An-ta-senpai and Kyouko-senpai this time?"
Since all three were wearing school uniforms, they were clearly going to the school building, and it was probably related to the Kyudo Club. Otherwise, these three wouldn't be moving together.
"Oh, it's like this. Horikita Manabu, that bastard, said he's cutting the Kyudo Club's budget. How outrageous!!! I'm going to settle accounts with him."
Fujiwara said, rolling up her sleeves.
Horikita Suzune, who had been indifferent, couldn't help but start to worry about her brother when she saw Fujiwara's muscular, un-feminine arms.
"By the way, An-ta-senpai and Kyouko-senpai haven't mentioned their surnames, have they? It seems a bit inconvenient to address them like this."
Horikita Suzune quickly changed the subject from discussing Horikita Manabu.
Sure enough, when An-ta and Kyouko were mentioned.
Fujiwara's face showed a troubled expression.
"They're famous good-for-nothings in the second year, almost everyone knows them. Their reputation is even big among the third-years, so everyone usually calls them An-ta and Kyouko. They're used to it. You two should properly introduce yourselves to your juniors, Horikita-san and Miyako-san. Show off your charm to your juniors, okay?"
Hearing Fujiwara's encouragement, the two exchanged glances and simultaneously sighed helplessly. They had always asked people to call them by their first names instead of their surnames precisely because their full names sounded like they were easy to bully.
"I'm An-ta from Class A, second year. Yagami An-ta."
"I'm Kyouko from Class D, second year. Kusanagi Kyouko."
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